The Beginning
This is why I moved here. Not for the weather. Not for the lifestyle. Not for the stargazing. But for the work. After about 6 months of searching I've finally landed a job in the film industry! Not to sound cliché but I honestly feel this is the start of something big.
So here's the deal: through my friend Mark (thanks Mark!) and through the assistance of Craigslist, I found a job at 1k Studios as a Quality Control Technician. What does that mean? Well, I'm the one who ensures all of the assets that get placed on a DVD work correctly. When you hit Play Movie it should play the movie. That kinda stuff. A lot of my job is dealing with the creative elements like the motion menus, scene descriptions, and similar things. It's an entry level job but it's about a 75 cent raise from what I was making at the UW and, well, a significant boost from my previous job at 2k.
Yes, the irony is not lost on me: I went from 2k to 1k at a loss of 1000 points of resolution! The really cool thing about his job is that they also produce some of the bonus content on DVDs and with the advent of BluRay there's more of this now than actual movie! They mentioned at one of the interviews that the company was getting more into this side of things and productions are growing in complexity and necessity. So there's room to grow into production. For now I'm just very happy and excited to do ANYTHING involved in film. This is a great step for me. Technical but creative.
The big bonus is the fact that the job is only 5 miles away from my house. My job at 2k was a lovely 30 miles. In LA traffic and with gas at $4/gallon, this meant I was shelling out about $50/week for gas!! My poor budget couldn't take that. So I should be back on the ball in a couple months. I also get a nice bennie package. But the biggest bonus will be working with cool, creative folks making DVDs of movies and TV shows I love. Yep, it's true. You know the Deadwood DVD set that I am often seen letting the menu loop with? They did it. Carnivale? That was them, too. Rome? Uh-huh. Oh yeah, I am back to the ol' 9-5, too! I'm no longer going to be a vampire.
Not just TV shows either, but big huge major effin' movies, too. And they have Rock Band in the break area! This is seriously an awesome job and I'm really, really ecstatic that I got it and I can't help but realize that a job like this would almost never, ever have come up in Seattle. For good reason, there's just no reason for a job like this up there. This isn't meant to sleight Seattle by any means, but this was my primary reason for moving and I'm glad the risk is finally paying off.
Anyway, thanks for all your well-wishes and support these last few months. I've needed every last bit of good tidings. I'll let you know how the first day goes and fill you in on other life news as it becomes a little more clear (the grainy haze of the future leaves things even out of my range of vision).
Siren call
As we all know, I've been a stalwart Seattle fan for most of my adult life. I love this town, even though some of the people who govern it are slightly "challenged". I love making movies in this town... but I think I've gone in depth about my issues here. Many have wondered why I've stayed so long in a town that's only moderately supportive of its filmmakers. Why I've stayed in a town where actual, paying film gigs are about as scarce as tumbleweeds on Pike St. Why I've stayed for nearly five years at a job that's been both good and bad to me just so I could make movies in this town.
Well... wonder no longer. Unless a miracle happens I'll be moving to LA around March of next year. I've already begun applying for positions down there (of which, there are of course many). Perhaps it just took me ten years to realize Seattle investors wouldn't listen to you unless you yourself had money, or that those "in the know" wouldn't support you unless they felt you had succeeded without their help.
I hate to be another statistic. Yet one more filmmaker to make the leap down to LA to jumpstart a career. But at this point in my life I've learned not to fight the necessary evils in life and instead to face them head on. There are things I like about LA. Beaches, sunshine, pretty people, my friends, Griffith Park and the Getty. And there are things I hate about it: traffic, ugly people, traffic, sunshine, heat, traffic, and traffic. But I need a change to break up this monotony. I also need to make some connections stat if I'm gonna continue to make movies in Seattle.
I've applied for a few jobs. Most with NBC Universal which, being owned by GE, has a rather odd application process. It's obviously designed more for scientists and lab workers and other types, the whole film production element seems oddly cast aside. Entertainment isn't even one of the job categories in the search function. When you apply they ask for any government ties you may have. Pretty funny. Reminds me of Studio 60 plots.
Anyway... that's what I'm doing. I plan on heading back up to Seattle at some point. I still have some of my best friends up here, the weather is much more my style, etc. But I'm not moving yet! You, dear blog, will be the first to know when I do.
Need a break
Despite having a semi-respite from the dayjob and Seattle life a couple weeks ago, I still need a break. Unfortunately for me it looks like that break is going to cost me money. Last night I had what felt like a mini-aneurism and a panic attack due to the overwhelming responsibilities I have at the moment with respect to the various deadlines I need to meet to push our next feature film out the door. So, I've determined that I must become a hermit and I apologize in advance to my friends if I need to bag out of get-togethers and fun times for the next few months. I need to save money, spend a lot of time reading, researching and writing (a 50-60 page business plan!).
I'm sure Elyse can sympathize, but hey she's on break now! Phfffftttt. Even when I finish the plan I still have to sell the idea. That means trips to LA, Park City, UT, Austin, and of course locally. My hope is to secure funding by this time next year for the film so we can begin development and attaching some name actors to the project. It is with crossed fingers that I hope we can attach a name before I finish the business plan. 
Anyway, I have a list of crap I need to do between now and October (the date of my proposed trip to sunny LA). In fact, here goes:
Script Coverage, in order to:
finish script, in order to:
complete budget, in order to:
complete business plan, in order to:
send to Sumeer for sign-off, in order to:
send PR to major trades, in order to:
get acquisition execs contacts, in order to:
set up meetings for LA in October, in order to:
begin the process of raising funds to make Plight.
To complete the business plan I need to spend some money. Script coverage, research databases and budgeting software all cost a bit. That's about $1000 total. Yipes! And then there's travel costs, miscellany like a haircut to look good for the LA peeps, car fixes to be able to drive to all these investor's houses, etc.
A fundraiser is planned, but due to the state of several projects we wouldn't be able to hold it until November at the earliest.
Dad wants me to go to Las Vegas and convince the mafi--- I mean the "casino owners" to front me the cash to make my movie.
Back on track…
Finally, for the first time in a long time, I'm catching up. I've fixed the brake problem on my car, I got a haircut when I said I was going to get one, I got my suit altered finally after a year of ownership (and it fits snug as a bug!), and I'm slowly sifting into filmmaking life in Seattle. And now I finally have a few moments to WordPress it all out for you here. Ain't life grand?
Work is all at once ramping up and slowing down. The big move is over, but it was so horrendously planned and executed that there are so many small things we still need to deal with -- we... ah hah hah... I mean, ME -- that it will never be truly over. To go into detail would be not only boring but frustrating. I'm lucky to have a select cadre of compatriots here that I can vent to. Suffice to say the whole past year has been an almost needless waste of effort on my part in trying to get this thing working right. I'm not even on the team that was supposed to be handling all this crap. *sigh* I digress.
The movie has LEGS! And she knows how to use them! Honestly though, "Snow Day, Bloody Snow Day," is cleaning up. We've already won Best Horror Film at the Seattle True Independence Film Festival and we're also playing down at BayCon in San Jose. Hopefully some more fests will crop up but we kinda hit the circuit when there was a bit of a lull. We should be hearing a lot more in June. Still, reviewers are enjoying the movie, we've extended our connections and our World Premiere was last night and a lot of fun. Many thanks to the folks who helped us set it up and especially to Kelly who secured us the space. Despite the technical difficulties we had, it was fantastic. We even sold some DVDs!!
I'll try updating the site with our future screenings. Tom over at EyeComma has outdone himself with the new site design. I hope you'll enjoy it and find it useful. It should be up and running next week sometime. Should allow me to update the site a little more often.
Nearly every movie/show I've produced has been listed on IMDb now with the recent addition of "Canned Laughter". I'm hoping to get "Hot Crotch Duggins" on there soon too, assuming it's near completion via the Shoreline C.C.s editing class. Thanks guys! But that's exciting.
And lastly, while this is far from the most detailed breakdown of what I'm up to right now, I'll end with this. Getting my haircut last Wednesday I get to talking with the haircutter-lady-person. We talk about films and how I've got a movie and all that. Anyway, as I'm leaving I hand her my card - never can hurt to build up a fan base, right? Anyway, get this... she's heard of GadZook Films! Get out! So... somehow, for better or for worse, we're making a name for ourselves.